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Patriotic and Idiotic

I hate to put this in religious terms, but there is a kind of American creed: “Freedom and liberty for all” might sum it up. Our leaders remember the tune, but they forget some of the words.

I was reminded of this after observing the Republican National Convention last week. On display was a national party trying to win a national election, but without an appeal to anybody but rich, white people: no appeal to black people or brown people or other racial or religious minorities – or even to women; no appeal to the future, only a wistful look backwards. They were patriotically humming the tune of an American creed abridged too far.

As it was truly said by Samuel Johnson (7 April 1775), “Patriotism is the last refuge of the scoundrel,” so it can be said that humming the tune of the American creed is no substitute for living by the lyrics. Just tell that to any number of Tea Party candidates. Or, better yet, let me: You didn’t build that. We did. And you don’t get to define it. We do.

What makes the American creed better than a religious one is that, rather than being handed to us by a skygod, we developed it with our humanity, based on the Enlightenment ideals of our Founders. And, far from being written on stone tablets, we’re constantly testing and improving this creed. And as Americans, if we’re in touch with what Lincoln called the “better angels of our nature,” we’d rather be welcoming converts than chasing out heretics. We’d rather be serving mankind than serving Mammon.

Some of us “pass” as patriotic Americans, yet spout unpatriotic, if not idiotic, ideas, as if it’s OK to pay lip service to the laws and reverence some “Creator,” rather than the other way around; as if some Americans believe our Constitution was handed to us by some god, rather being wrought by the reason of men. They seem to be confused as to what’s not OK for an American; that is, what’s un-American.

It’s not OK for those of us who were born on third base to believe we hit a triple, when most of us are still waiting for an at-bat. It’s not OK to think you made it to the top on your own and then have the audacity to pull up the ladder of success behind you. That’s really un-American.

Robert G. Ingersoll was an American. He once said, “He loves his country best who strives to make it best.” But he was an atheist: what could he know? Simply this: that there is too much “In God We Trust” in America and not enough “E Pluribus Unum.” If you want to know the difference between patriotic and idiotic, know this: It’s not OK to say you love America but to hate everything American government does. It’s not OK to stand for freedom and liberty for some. That’s un-American. What’s truly American? Freedom and liberty for all. That’s a creed we can believe in because we built that.